New Orleans Seafood Gumbo

I promised this to you guys. But I never thought it would take 3.5 months to get it up here. Maybe the anticipation will make it all that much better when you make it at home for your family?

This my own version of New Orleans Seafood Gumbo. It's warm and comforting and super tasty. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 large green bell pepper, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 threads saffron
1 cup rice, pre-cooked
1 bag small tail off shrimp
1 bag frozen clams
1 lemon, zested
1 tbs worcestershire
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp Zatarains Cajun Seasoning
1 tsp Crystal Louisiana Hot Sauce
2 Bay leaves
Brown/Dark brown roux

Directions:

1. Sweat onions, garlic, bell pepper and garlic with the saffron
2. In a separate soup pot, make the roux: Melt 3 tbs. butter and add 3 Tbs, cook over low/medium heat until combined. Add stock to desired consistency and cook until brown but not scorched.
3. Add cooked veg to roux
4. Add Seafood and simmer on low, adding stock as necessary for the consistency that appeals to you.
5. Add lemon zest, worcestershire, cajun seasoning (it comes in a wee mesh bag - simple cut it open and measure out your seasoning), hot sauce and bay leaves
6. Lower heat and simmer adding salt and pepper to taste
7. Add rice, heat through
8. Serve garnished with bias cut green onion and crusty bread

NOLA - Partie Trois

This is the final part of our trip to New Orleans. Stay tuned because I will end this with a wicked recipe I created for Seafood Gumbo.

Day 4, Friday: We had a leisurely morning. It always takes us some time to wind down on a vacation so it was good to get a little lounging in. But we did have 9:30 reservations for brunch at Brennans. I have heard about the grandeur of this place many times and I just had to see and taste for myself.

It was magnificent. Both Bulent and I had the Eggs Benedict except I had a side of grits and he had a side of potatoes. I'm not a potato fan, but his potatoes were perfection! The hollandaise was excellent and the service, impeccable. In case you can't tell from my posts, New Orleans is an eating town!

There were charming details in this restaurant: a collection of vintage oyster plates hung from the walls in one dining room. Painted murals in another, a peacock etched on a mirror in yet another, a courtyard with a water feature that had a family of turtles living there. It was a little world all it's own. And the dubious history of the place was so evident!  The building was constructed in 1795 by Edgar Degas great grandfather and was once a private residence frequented by President Andrew Jackson.

Yep. They live at Brennans. Lucky.

Such a fancy turtle. You can see him so clearly with his cognac and cigar.

After breakfast we took a trolley ride to the garden district.

NOLA is truly unlike any other place I've been or seen. It is it's own little biome of goodness. What I mean by different is that I often hear people say that San Francisco is reminiscent of a European City (well, it isn't, it is decidedly American) but you catch my drift. New Orleans has Spanish influences and obvious French ones too. But the history is rich, eclectic and diverse.

After seeing Magazine street and the tiny shops along the promenade there our stomachs got rumbly and we hitched an Uber to Superior Seafood. 

Did I mention $.50 happy hour over there. Huz and I ate probably 50 oysters and drank champagne for 2.5 hours. It was like heaven.

We took the trolly back into town from there and headed to the hotel for a rest. Tonight was a trip to Arnaud's.

Arnaud's is the "grande dame" of original Creole dining, but we were not going for the food. We went for the scenery and a famous french 75. By scenery, I mean that many people have said it is reminiscent of The Shining. It is, sort of. It really more reminded me of American Horror Story: Freak Show.

Did you know there is a secret museum there? Well, there is. It's not really secret but not many people know about it. Chris Hammond, the gentleman bar keep told us about it and escorted us to peek at it. It was magnificent.

NOLA - Partie Deux

So here it is! The second installment of our trip to New Orleans! If you've never been, GO!

Day 3, Thursday: It was a big day for us! We woke up and immediately ventured to Cafe du Monde. I can't actually believe that we had been in New Orleans for a day and half and had not had a Beignet! Once many years ago, Amy sent me a photo of Beignets at Cafe du Monde with a caption that said, "Where am I?" I had no idea! I had never been. Honestly my life is complete now; Bulent and I got a dozen Beignets. They were magnificent and a perfect start to the day. A beignet is a sort of donut, literally swimming in powdered sugar -SWIMMING! (They're also reminiscent of a Turkish treat called 'Pisi.')

After filling our bellies with some of the world's greatest creations, we headed back to the French Market Inn to ready ourselves for our swamp tour. One of the big things on our lost was to see gators. We booked our tour through Swamp Adventures at the suggestion of Randy Orzalli - a seasoned outdoorsman.

It was, quite literally an amazing adventure. The television will tell us that the folks who live amongst the marshes of the Mississippi River are something that they are not. These folks are actually hard core conservationists who are very knowledgable about wildlife, marsh safety and requisite hospitality. We saw snapping turtles, myriad water fowl, beautiful scenery that is found nowhere else on earth and of course alligators. And the fan boat? Oh my word! The fan boat! It was fast and fun and loud and so powerful that it can go on dry land.

Beautiful. We saw tiny baby alligators here. They were about 4 inches long and if they survive they can get up to 10 feet long and weight about 1000 pounds.

The great Southern Live Oak with plenty of Spanish Moss.

We got back to our hotel. The Swamp Adventures people picked us up and dropped us off. It was a nice treat since we had no car of our own. You really don't need one when you visit New Orleans. The door to door service was great but the hunger in our tummies was not great. We were edging again dangerously close to hangry. Thats no good for anyone. I told you one of the great things about The French Market Inn was their helpful staff. So we asked them where we should go for real Cajun Seafood. And...they sent us to a place in a borough called Treme. Know what it was called? "New Orleans Original Cajun Cooking" It was one of my favorite meals in New Orleans but it's hard not to have excellent food there.

All the fixin's 

This guy was in food heaven!

Treme: Mother in Law Lounge

We took an Uber to Marigny and walked the rest of the way to the hotel. I love the weather in Louisiana. Some people hate the humidity but I like it. And walking in that weather was nice! By the time we made it back to the hotel, we had to rest. NOLA is a busy place. The energy is all a buzz and some napping was in order.

We woke up again, hungry! We had been told to go to a place called Bacchanal by a local woman we had met at an art gallery. We dressed up a little and headed to the Bywater district.

The most commonly visited neighborhoods. Bywater is right on the Mississippi.

This little place was a gem. Here's the jam: You walk in, you grab a bottle of wine. You go to the cheese fridge and choose a couple cheeses. You go to the meat fridge and you choose a couple meats. Then you pay for the whole shebang but they cart off your food selections while you try your darnedest to get a decent table or any table for that matter. We were lucky! We got a table right away and listened to Gypsy Jazz - a great band - The Courtyard Kings. And bam! They set down a magnificent plate of meats and cheeses and a tower of bread with house made remoulade and pickled veg. It was a feast. It's the one thing I didn't take a picture of - hangry. It was a magical evening.

We were also told to go to Vaughan's in the same neighborhood, but we were knackered and simply couldn't. It's on the list for our next visit.